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“Yes.” There’s no way to deny it.
He already knows.
“Please, you can’t tell them.” My voice breaks and cracks. “Don’t tell them what he’s done.” I wring my hands, and tuck my chin to my chest. A wave of heat and shame rushes through me.
“When?”
“The day after we met.”
“How?”
“I went to the library. That wasn’t a lie. He tracked my phone and met me outside.” Heat rushes to my cheeks, not with shame, but with the memory of the bone-chilling fear I felt when Scott accosted me. “He grabbed my arm and shook me like a rag doll. He told me we were going to sit down and talk about what happened.” My hand drifts up to my arm where he bruised me that day.
“And where did you talk? At the library?”
“He took me to his house. Ordered me down to the basement, where…” I turn my head and close my eyes as the terrifying memory rushes through me. I smell the musty dampness of the basement. I feel the terrifying chill creeping in from the cement floor. I taste bile and fear.
“What did he do?” Zeb brings me back with the calming tone of his words.
“Made me sit on the floor. He paced around me, shouting, yelling. He grew eerily calm and told me I wasn’t allowed to leave. That I would be punished for making him angry. That things would be different going forward. That I had no say in who he fucked. He—we had sex and he let me go.”
“When did he start escalating?” Zeb shakes his head and folds me into his arms.
My hand lifts to explore the tenderness at my neck.
“No need to answer that.” Zeb releases me and takes a step back.
There’s something about the way he holds me that makes me feel safe and secure. There’s a solidness about him and the feeling he’s going to make things right.
Back on the rooftop, the first night we met, I imagined how things might be with Zeb. I still remember the electricity charging the air between us. That potential for more. I remember the heat of his body and the way he looked at me. The way my heart raced and the way he made my stomach flutter.
I remember the moment that was almost a kiss.
“Your immediate safety is my first concern.” Something changes in Zeb. Like a switch that flips, he’s in Alpha-male protector mode—a powerful force of good acting on my side.
Despite my distress, my shame, and the tears that fall, it’s hard not to see him in an entirely new light.
Zeb is a powerful protector. A gallant knight in shining armor. A noble rescuer and absolutely stunning. He’s my hero.
“You mentioned he threatened to pull your acceptance at UC Davis. Has he?”
My chin drops and my gaze shifts to the floor. Shame rushes through me and my entire body trembles. Scott hasn’t expressly mentioned it one way or the other, but I know. I know what he craves. None of those are to watch me pursue my dreams.
“Scott wants me for himself.” Tears fall from my eyes.
“Kaye, you have to let me help. This is what I do. I’ll make Scott pay for everything he’s done to you. I can keep you safe. I’m going to fix this.”
He makes me want to believe.
“He’s going to hurt my friends.” My shoulders hunch as I try to disappear. I want to believe, but I’m afraid. Terribly afraid.
“He’s not going to hurt anyone. Not your roommates and not you. He’s finished threatening them, and he’s done hurting you. This stops now. It stops today.”
I roll my lower lip between my teeth and nod. I don’t have the strength for words.
“There’s no way I can stand by and do nothing.” He takes my hands in his and a wave of warmth rushes through me. He pulls me into his embrace, and for a moment, everything feels right.
This small gesture of comfort eases the pain inside me.
